There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
by EmiEllie
Summary: (TEASER) "You wouldn't want to be a cheerleader. Being a cheerleader is all about conforming, you know? You're too special not to stand out." Rachel meets Sam when she's five. Somehow, he becomes the most important person in her life. AU friendship.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.  
This is just a little something I've been working on, but I'm not sure whether I should continue. Please read and review to let me know if you want more EvanBerry.**

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**1.**

They first met at age five, when Sam's family moved up north from Tennessee. The haulage company his father worked for had just opened up a new branch in Ohio and he'd been offered a promotion if he moved there.

That's how Rachel Berry ended up with a new neighbour.

It was a rainy October morning and she was curled up on the sofa watching _Funny Girl _for the second time when she heard the bleeping of a reversing lorry. An inquisitive Rachel moved towards the window to find out what was going on.

Just as she was watching the scene unfold in front of her, Rachel's Papa walked into the living room. "What you looking at, kiddo?" he asked fondly.

"Just looking. What's going on outside?"

Hiram came up behind his tiny daughter, who was standing in the armchair so that she could see over the window ledge. "Looks like we're getting some new neighbours."

"Oh. Do you think they'll be nice?" Rachel really hoped so. Mrs Chapman, who had lived in the house next door until a few weeks ago, was one of Rachel's favourite people. She used to invite her over to watch movie musicals and eat raspberry ripple ice cream. She had five cats, all of whom were named after famous Broadway actresses: Patti, Edie, Liza, Bernadette, and Barbra (of course Barbra occupied a very special place in Rachel's heart). Truthfully, Rachel's love of musicals and all of her Broadway dreams had started with the weekends she spent with Mrs Chapman; the little girl was heartbroken when she found out that her neighbour's children decided to move her into a private nursing home. Hiram and Leroy had tried to explain that Mrs Chapman was getting old and needed a little bit of extra help, but Rachel was still a little bitter about it.

"I don't know. Maybe we should make some cookies for them and take them round. That would be a nice _neighbourly_ thing to do, wouldn't it?"

Rachel nodded her head in agreement and was about to turn away from the window to follow her Papa into the kitchen when she was momentarily distracted by a flash of blond hair bobbing about on the sidewalk in front of her.

The little boy looked about the same age as her give or take a few months, but everything else about him was her opposite. He was at least a few inches taller than her and had very fair skin, the whitest of blond hair, and the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. But the thing that Rachel noticed most was his wide, beaming smile. She'd never seen a smile quite so beautifully infectious and she found herself smiling too.

Moments later, the boy turned around and looked towards the window she was staring out of, such that their eyes connected unexpectedly. This only caused the boy's smile to grow wider as waved enthusiastically.

Rachel instinctively knew that she was going to like her new neighbours.

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**2.**

Since Sam transferred in the middle of term and there were no spaces left in Rachel's class, he was forced to attend a different elementary school. Rachel always felt kind of sad about that, since Sam was her new favourite person and her best friend in the whole world, and at the beginning of every year she tried to convince Sam's parents to let him move schools.

They never did move him though, because apparently Sam was happy at West Lima Elementary and had made lots of friends there. "_I'm_ Sam's friend," she would huff every time they used that lame excuse, displeased that she had to share her very best friend with other children. Her parents kept reminding her that she got to spend time with Sam in the evenings, and at weekends, and all through the holidays, but it did little to placate her. She wanted to be with Sam _all_ the time.

So, on the eve of them starting sixth grade, Rachel and Sam decided to hold a little celebration. They were sitting in the tree house Sam and Rachel had built in his back yard two summers ago with a picnic spread out around them, including a batch of the delicious chocolate chip cookies Rachel and her Papa had baked for the Evans family the day they'd moved to Lima.

"To Middle School," Sam announced excitedly, holding up his plastic cup full of Coca Cola so that Rachel could join him in a toast.

"And to _no more_ separation," Rachel added as she clipped the side of his cup. "I can't believe we're _finally_ going to school together."

"I can't believe you didn't grind my parents down years ago," Sam teased.

Rachel glared at him in mock annoyance and punched her best friend lightly in the arm, until neither one of them was able to keep a straight face and they both burst out laughing.

"Next year's going to be good, isn't it? _We're_ going to be good?" Rachel asked a little uncertainly, after they'd both gone quiet again.

"Of course," Sam answered without hesitation. "We're going to be _great_! And I'm going to be there to scare off any pervy eighth graders who think it's acceptable to hit on _my_ girl."

"Oh please, you couldn't scare a kitten," she ragged, uncertain of whether that was a threat or a promise. Still, she couldn't stop the peaceful smile that settled on her face.

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**3.**

Sam didn't have to scare off any pervy eighth graders. In fact, he really didn't have to scare off any guys at all during their time in Middle School. Rachel wasn't the most popular girl - she was in drama club, and glee club, and orchestra - and the older guys all wanted to date the cheerleaders.

Sometimes Rachel wondered what it would be like if she were blonde, pretty and athletic. Would that make her happy? Would it make her popular?

Sam was always around to remind her that she was the _coolest_, _prettiest_ girl he'd ever met. "You're unique, Rachel," he would say. "You wouldn't want to be a cheerleader. Being a cheerleader is all about conforming, you know? You're too special not to stand out."

Even though they were getting older, Rachel and Sam remained just as close. Of course she'd made other friends as well - she was very close with Kurt, Mercedes and Tina from glee club - but none of them _knew_ her quite like Sam did.

Since he played for the football team, Sam was one of the most popular guys in school. Still, he wasn't ashamed of being associated with Rachel; his teammates all knew that they were best friends and, on the rare occasion one of them would dare to call Rachel a nasty name or make lewd comments about her, Sam would get _extremely_ angry. That never changed; he always protected her honour, just as he promised he would in the tree house.

It wasn't until eighth grade that Rachel started to feel like they were drifting apart. They still hung out at home sometimes, he would smile at her in the hallway between classes, and he often came to her dance recitals. But they didn't eat lunch together on Mondays or Fridays anymore and it seemed like he didn't really _want_ her to go to his football games. Rachel knew she should be happy about not having to go, since she didn't really understand the rules of football and was constantly worried about Sam getting hurt, but she mostly felt upset that he didn't want to share one of his greatest passions with her. She shared _everything_ with Sam, especially things that were important to her.

It was a Friday evening about halfway through the first semester when Rachel decided to take action. She really needed to know what was going on with her best friend so that everything could go back to normal.

Rachel rang her next door neighbours' doorbell and waited until the door swung open to reveal Mary Evans. "Oh, hello Rachel. We weren't expecting you," she said kindly. Sam's mom had always had a soft spot for Rachel.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you. Can I come in?"

"Of course, dear. We're just having dinner. Would you like to join us?"

"That would be lovely, thank you Mrs Evans," Rachel said with a smile, following Mary towards the dining room. She paused outside the door to remove her coat and scarf, making her privy to the conversation inside the room where the Evans family was eating.

_"Rachel's here. Isn't that wonderful," _Mary announced. The two-year-old twins - Stevie and Stacey - started squealing delightedly and it warmed Rachel's heart knowing that Sam's entire family loved her. She liked to refer to them as her 'other family', since Sam, Stevie and Stacey were the closest things to siblings that she had.

The squealing was followed by Sam's very distinct choking (she was familiar with the sound because Sam often stuffed too much food into his mouth, causing him to choke). "_What? Why would you invite Rachel?" _he managed to splutter out once the coughing had stopped. Rachel's heart dropped into her stomach upon hearing the words coming from her best friend's mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realised he didn't want her there.

_"Excuse me, Samuel Evans, but I did _not_ raise you to be so rude,"_ Mary reprimanded him.

"_Sorry, that came out wrong," _he responded a little sheepishly.

Rachel chose that moment to move into the dining room, intent on pretending she _hadn't_ been eavesdropping on the little family spat. She stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes landed on the scene in front of her. As always, Dwight was sat at the head of the table, with Stevie and Stacey in high chairs either side of him. Mary was in her usual spot next to Stevie, with Sam sat opposite her. The thing that really caught Rachel's attention, though, was the pretty blonde girl, with the most beautiful green eyes and the sweetest smile she'd ever seen, sitting right beside Sam in _her_ usual spot.

Obviously she had been staring silently at the unknown girl for much longer than is socially appropriate, since Sam cleared his throat to get her attention. "Erm, Rachel, this is Quinn," he introduced them awkwardly.

The two girls continued to appraise one another, but they were both smiling now. "Hi Rachel. It's nice to finally meet you. Sam talks about you a lot," Quinn said sweetly. Luckily Rachel was able to bite her tongue before she accidentally revealed that Sam had _never_ spoken about her.

Recognition dawned on Rachel after a moment. "We go to school together, right?" Quinn nodded. "Sorry, I just didn't recognise you out of context for a moment there. It's really nice to meet you too, Quinn."

The initial awkwardness subsided after a while and Rachel found that she actually liked Quinn. She seemed sweet and funny and, most importantly, she seemed to really care about Sam. This left Rachel feeling conflicted. She knew she should have been happy for her best friend, but she was so upset that he hadn't even _mentioned_ his _girlfriend_. It felt like he was purposely trying to cut her out of his life and she even wondered whether he was too _embarrassed_ by her to introduce her to Quinn.

Maybe Sam had outgrown their friendship.

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**So what do you think? Should I continue?**


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